Lint collection has long been a problem with modern clothes washing machines. Lint fibers knocked loose from the clothes float in the water in the washing machine until it is discharged out through a hose. The water and lint are then directed down a drain, perhaps in a utility sink, where the lint can clog the drain pipes causing potentially expensive repairs to be paid for by the home owner. A variety of solutions have been developed to capture the lint before it is directed down the sink drain.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,479 (Pattee), entitled Fine particle Lint Filter discloses a filtration device with a plurality of screens with varying pore size used to collect lint in a circuitry suited to a large laundry facility. The water flow in the Pattee reference is generally in the same direction, failing to reverse the water flow and adequately slow the water to allow easy removal of the lint. Pattee design is not suited for connection to a utility sink, but rather is intended to be of a configuration suitable for recycling large volumes of water.
Some basket style collection filters include U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,733 (Van Dieren) entitled Filter Unit for Washing Machine and U.S. Pat. No. 3,638,799 (Serowiecki), entitled Clamping Unit and Drain Filter for Washing Machine Drain Lines. While these are configured to be joined to a utility sink, these references fail to teach a system suitable for adequately slowing the discharge stream sufficiently to allow good collection of lint.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,862 (Justice) discloses a Washer Standpipe Drain Visual Filter. Generally, a lint filter is provided that is a mesh sac. The sac fills with lint and is thereafter replaced. Justice does disclose the sac can somehow be inverted and washed out for reuse, which is fraught with its own difficulties given its construction. Typically, sacs tend to become loose prior to filling and “blow off” the hose from which the discharge water is expelled, potentially becoming a plug. Justice claims his clamping system precludes blow-outs and rather plugs the discharge stream such that the water cannot release from the washing machine.
Other sac style filters are taught by Villagomez (U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,367) entitled Lint Strainer for Washing Machine Drains; Luger (U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,880) entitled Washing Machine Lint Trap; Sackett (U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,992) entitled Filter Assembly; Marschman (U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,361) entitled Lint Filter Assembly; Nichols (U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,330), entitled Washing Machine Drain Filter; Nicholes (U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,138) entitled Washing Machine Darin Filter; Tucker (U.S. Pat. No. 3,487,944) entitled Trap for Collecting Lint Discharged from a Washing Machine; and Bochan (U.S. Pat. No. 3,275,143) entitled Filter with Cleaning Means.
A couple of obvious draw backs are apparent in reviewing sac style lint collectors. The sacs tend to completely surround and seal about the discharge hose. As lint builds in the sac, additional lint has less and less room in which to come to a rest until the sac becomes plugged. At that point, or before, the sac blows off the discharge hose under the water pressure. Alternatively, if the water pressure is not strong enough to release the sac, the water remains in the machine.
What is needed is a lint collection device that is of a basket style such that it is not subject to blow-outs, heavy clamping and blockage of the flow stream. The trap should be connectable to a utility sink, have at least one chamber for slowing the speed of the discharge stream, and have a removable filter that is easily wiped to remove the lint. Desirably, the direction of the water flow is reversed in the lint collection device to slow the stream prior to passing through the filter.